Favorite Schools

Favorite Teams

Hanjin Shipping Co. has reversed its decision, announced in October, that it intended to stop serving the Port of Portland. Hanjin managers informed customers Monday that its ships will continue calling on Portland despite "cost increases and inefficiencies."
(Benjamin Brink/The Oregonian)

The South Korean shipping line sent word early Monday of its long-awaited decision to key customers and freight forwarders. A memo issued by Hanjin and obtained by The Oregonian said the company would periodically evaluate the terminal, given increasing pressure due to “cost increases and inefficiencies.”

“The Port of Portland’s productivity has still not shown any sign of improvement for the past months,” the memo said. “We are working closely with the terminal to solve the productivity issues in order to keep the service up and running.”

A Hanjin North America manager did not immediately return phone calls for comment Monday morning. But Sam Ruda, Port of Portland chief commercial officer, welcomed the news, which he said would give some certainty to the shipping community.

“They’re not saying everything is perfect at the terminal,” Ruda said. “But they’ll be reviewing the operations performance on a quarterly basis, and we’ll go from there.”